The Administration and the House have taken action to avoid a national rail strike as the Senate considers similar legislation to delay a strike. President Biden’s call to action came the same day more than 400 business groups sent a letter to House and Senate leaders calling for them to step in if necessary to prevent the rail workers from striking.
A coalition of business groups including the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Grain and Feed Association and other agricultural interests, said a strike would disrupt the transportation of 6,300 food and farm products per day and halt deliveries of chemicals like chlorine used for wastewater treatment.
A voluntary agreement with the four “holdout” unions is the “best outcome," they said, but urged Congress to act in the absence of that,"Many businesses will see the impacts of a national rail strike well before December 9 — through service disruptions and other impacts potentially as early as December 5,” the groups wrote.